On This Day

5 August 1979: Jovan — The John Sullivan Story, the telemovie spin-off from The Sullivans, airs on Nine. Starring Andrew McFarlane in the title role of John Sullivan, with Frank Gallacher, Olivia Hamnett, Carol Burns and newcomer Vera Plevnik.

5 August 1996: It has taken two years, but Friends is finally making its Australian debut on the Seven Network. The hit US sitcom has taken two years to get to Australian screens, largely due to a prolonged battle between Seven and Nine for rights to the show.

5 August 2001: Network Ten premieres mockumentary series All Aussie Adventures, following accident prone outback adventurer Russell Coight (Glenn Robbins) as he tackles Australia’s rugged outback and wildlife.

5 August 2003: The Nine Network premieres DIY Rescue, a home renovation series hosted by Leah McLeod.

5 August 2006: The Seven Network premieres A Pub Too Far. Red Symons and Wilbur Wilde go on a journey to search for the perfect watering hole, starting in Bali and then to Indonesia’s Spice Islands (Moluccas).

3 Likes

6 August 1979: Melbourne’s ATV0 premieres Peter Couchman’s Melbourne, an extension of the late-night Peter Couchman Tonight. The new 7.00pm program includes special reports and contributions from Derryn Hinch, Marie van Maaren, Tony Porter and Bob Maumill.

6 August 1994: Mal Walden hosts a one-hour special, ATV 30th Anniversary, commemorating thirty years of ATV10, that was launched in 1964 as ATV0. The Seven Network premieres Dr Feelgood, discussing sex, romance and relationships.

6 August 1995: The Nine Network screens the World War II telemovie The Last Bullet, starring Jason Donovan, Robert Taylor, Stephen Hall, Charles ‘Bud’ Tingwell, Beth Champion and Anthony Hayes.

6 August 2002: The Nine Network presents Test Australia: The National IQ Test. The biggest single IQ test ever conducted in Australia. Hosted by Eddie McGuire and Catriona Rountree.

6 August 2008: The Nine Network premieres Hole In The Wall, possibly television’s most ridiculous idea for a physical game show. Hosted by Jules Lund. The Seven Network premieres reality show Make Me A Supermodel, based on the British series of the same name. Hosted by former Miss Universe, Jennifer Hawkins.

6 August 2011: Network Ten’s music video show Video Hits ends after a 24-year run

2 Likes

YouTube: Regional TV Australia Web Project

1 Like

7 August 1983: The Seven Network begins daily coverage of the first World Athletic Championships from Helsinki, Finland. Seven presents late-night highlights packages of each day of competition, culminating in live prime-time coverage of the marathon on the final day. Australia was represented in the marathon by Commonwealth Games gold medallist Rob de Castella, who won Australia’s only gold medal at the championships.

7 August 1991: ABC screens the telemovie The Last Crop, starring Kerry Walker and Noah Taylor.

7 August 1992: ABC premieres Blue Wilderness, a five-part documentary series featuring Ron and Valerie Taylor as they explore various underwater creatures. The first episode looks at sharks, and helping a group of shark-wary people, including two shark attack victims, come to terms with their fears.

7 August 1996: ABC screens the documentary Nobody’s Children: Seven Years On. David Goldie tracks down the street kids he spoke to seven years ago and finds out what has happened in their lives since then.

7 August 1997: The Seven Network presents the two-hour special Comic Relief, a combination of stand-up local comedy and international sketches as a fund raiser for Community Aid Abroad. Featuring Magda Szubanski, Libby Gore, Rob Sitch, Jimeoin, Marg Downey, John Clarke, Brian Dawe, Judith Lucy, Glenn Robbins, Glynn Nicholas, Russell Gilbert, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Joanna Lumley, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.

7 August 2007: ABC premieres the six-part documentary series South Side Story, about the takeover of NRL team the South Sydney Rabbitohs by actor Russell Crowe and businessman Peter Holmes à Court.

7 August 2009: The Seven Network premieres children’s series Kid Detectives, hosted by Stephen Multari and Shae Brewster.

7 August 2010: The Nine Network premieres Home Cooked! With Julie Goodwin, featuring the inaugural MasterChef Australia winner and celebrity guests demonstrating easy-to-make home cooked meals.

YouTube: torelish

2 Likes

That’s Entertainment by The Jam as the bumper music… whoever chose that song must have picked it based off its title alone, without paying any attention to the lyrics

2 Likes

:musical_notes:That’s commercial TV, that’s commercial TV:musical_notes:

:musical_notes:La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la:musical_notes:

3 Likes

Community Aid Abroad became Oxfam Community Aid Abroad in 2001 to reflect its affiliation with Oxfam International, before changing its name to Oxfam Australia four years later.

https://www.oxfam.org.au/about-us/our-history/

1 Like

8 August 1959: GTV9, Melbourne, screens the play They Were Big, They Were Blue, They Were Beautiful, part of the Shell Presents series. The play was originally performed live-to-air at ATN7, Sydney, in June and videotaped for broadcast in Melbourne.

8 August 1964: The end of ATV0’s first full week of transmission ends with the debut of Goal To Goal, presenting highlights and discussion of the day’s VFL matches, and The Ray Taylor Show, a late night variety show with a mix of satire and commentary.

8 August 1982: ABC screens Henry V, part of the BBC’s series of television adaptations of all 37 plays by William Shakespeare.

8 August 1985: The final episode of The Mike Walsh Show, ending a 12-year run.

8 August 1990: Michele Fawdon stars in an ABC docu-drama, This Time Next Time, as a crusading journalist assigned to write a feature article on the dangers of alcohol-related brain damage.

8 August 1996: Network Ten premieres sexuality and lifestyle series Sex/Life, the revival of the former Nine Network program Sex. Hosting the new series is Tottie Goldsmith.

8 August 1997: The Seven Network premieres Bush Telegraph. Bridget Adams, Neil Kearney and John Williamson present heart-warming stories of people from all over the world.

8 August 1999: ABC presents the telemovie Time And Tide, starring June Salter, Ron Graham, Dinah Shearing and John Bluthal. Commissioned by ABC as part of the International Year of the Older Person.

8 August 2001: ABC debuts the six-part documentary series Long Way To The Top, covering the history of Australian rock music from the 1950s to the present day. The Nine Network premieres McLeod’s Daughters, the series spin-off from the 1996 telemovie.

8 August 2008: The Opening Ceremony of The Games Of The XXIX Olympiad is telecast live from Beijing on the Seven Network. Daily coverage from the Games was primarily on Seven with some events covered by SBS.

3 Likes

9 August 1968: New TV Station — MVQ6, Mackay, Queensland.

9 August 1996: The Seven Network premieres Where Are They Now?, checking in on some former famous and infamous faces. Hosted by Peter Luck.

9 August 2009: The Nine Network’s secondary entertainment channel, GO!, makes its debut

1 Like

And then 9 Months Later When the Nine Networks Secondary Entertainment Program GO made it’s Debut on Sunday the 9th of August in 2009 16 Years Ago and in May 2010, GO Newsbursts are Being Featured as a Newsbreak Filler During Regular Programming During the Day and Night. Where it Features Young Journalists from the 9Newsroom with Commercial Sponsorship Tie-Ins from Mitsubishi Motors.

10 August 1991: Ten debuts a new children’s series, Kelly, about a smarter than average police dog, starring Gil Tucker and Alexander Kemp.

10 August 2003: William McInnes, Angie Milliken and Tim Draxl star in the premiere of ABC‘s The Shark Net, a three-part series taken from Robert Drewe‘s memoir about his early life growing up during the reign of one of Australia’s most notorious serial killers.

10 August 2004: Seven begins its coverage of The Games Of The XXVIII Olympiad from Athens, Greece, in partnership with SBS

4 Likes

11 August 1977: The 1218th and final episode of Number 96 airs on TEN10, Sydney. The episode signs off with a curtain call of cast members that have featured through the series.

YouTube: SilentNumber96

11 August 1991: The Nine Network‘s 60 Minutes celebrates its 500th edition.

11 August 1993: The mini-series adaptation of Ben Elton‘s book Stark makes its debut on ABC.

11 August 1996: Melbourne’s GTV9 screens the special Has The Weather Gone Mad?, hosted by Rob Gell and Tracey Dale, providing an insight into Melbourne’s unpredictable weather and what the future has in store for Victoria.

11 August 1997: The Nine Network premieres Murder Call, a crime series starring Peter Mochrie, Lucy Bell, Glenda Linscott, Geoff Morrell, Jennifer Kent and Gary Day.

11 August 2003: The Nine Network premieres children’s show [Hot] Source, hosted by David Whitehall, Tristan Kurz and Asha Kuerten.

4 Likes

It’s interesting to see out of that final curtain call who is still alive to this day.

As far as I know (in no particular order)

Joe Hasham
Tom Oliver
Lynn Rainbow
Vivienne Garrett
Philippa Baker
Jeff Kevin
Dina Mann
Harry Michaels
Arianthe Galani
Wendy Blacklock
Paula Duncan
Deborah Gray
Chard Hayward
Mary Ann Severne
Martin Harris
Sheila Kennelly
Roger Ward

Who have definitely passed:
Pat McDonald
Ron Shand
Bunney Brooke
Johnny Lockwood
Mike Dorsey
Frances Hargreaves
Chelsea Brown
Joe James
James Elliott
Elisabeth Kirkby (died recently age 105)
Elaine Lee
Bettina Welch
Thelma Scott
Gordon McDougall
Henri Szeps

2 Likes

Could we ever forget Abigail ??

Still alive :heart_eyes:

1 Like

Indeed, yes, but she wasn’t in the curtain call :smirking_face:

12 August 1972: The debut of Nine Network quiz show Split Second, hosted by Ken James (Skippy The Bush Kangaroo, The Group).

12 August 1979: Marcia Hines and Daryl Braithwaite host the Australian Popular Song Festival on the 0-10 Network, including performances by Delilah, Ray Burgess, Tony Pantano, Mary Jane Boyd and Russell Hitchcock.

12 August 1984: Brisbane QTQ9‘s five-hour special, Channel Nine Celebrates 25 Years Of Television, features past and present personalities including Hugh Cornish, Babette Stephens, Don Seccombe, Jacki MacDonald, Ron Cadee, Jim Iliffe and Brian Cahill. Nine followed up the special with a further one hour on the actual date of the station’s 25th anniversary — 16 August 1984.

12 August 1990: Melbourne station ATV10’s daytime line-up features regular crosses throughout the day to the annual Deafness Appeal Telethon, hosted by TTFM breakfast presenters Geoff Cox and Gavin Wood.

12 August 1992: HSV7 newsreader Jennifer Keyte hosts a two-hour special Melbourne — The Living City, commemorating Melbourne’s 150th anniversary.

12 August 1995: Gladiators (Seven) begins a three-week battle featuring the Australian Gladiators versus their United Kingdom counterparts, hosted by UK Gladiators host John Fashanu and Australian co-host Kimberley Joseph.

12 August 1996: The special Forty Years Of Sport (Seven) takes a look at some of the greatest funniest and memorable moments in 40 years of sport on Australian television.

12 August 2002: Network Ten premieres police drama White Collar Blue, starring Peter O’Brien, Freya Stafford, Richard Carter, Brooke Satchwell, Don Hany, Jodie Dry and Linda Cropper.

4 Likes

13 August 1971: New TV Station — ABD6, Darwin

YouTube: ABC News (Australia)

13 August 1976: The sex-comedy series Alvin Purple, based on the earlier successful film of the same name, was due to commence its 13-episode run. Starring Graeme Blundell in the title role, Alvin Purple featured the amorous escapades of a young man who had an effect on women of all types. It was front page news when, one day before going to air, the series was bumped off the schedule — with ABC management and its new chairman Sir Henry Bland accused of “censorship” of the controversial series. The program didn’t appear as scheduled, with ABC management suggesting some edits but the show’s producer Maurice Murphy did not make any. Alvin Purple managed to make a belated debut the following week.

13 August 1978: The last day of competition and the Closing Ceremony of the XI Commonwealth Games, held in Edmonton, Canada. ABC‘s live coverage is at 6am with a repeat of highlights at 10.50pm. ABC also had a last minute change to its schedule following the death of Pope Paul VI. The funeral for the pope was broadcast live from Rome at 1.50am with a repeat at 8.30pm.

13 August 1984: The final day of competition from The Games Of The XXIII Olympiad from Los Angeles, USA, before coverage of the Men’s Marathon and Closing Ceremony.

13 August 1995: The Australia Remembers Gala Tribute (ABC) features John Farnham, James Morrison, James Blundell, Margaret Urlich, Don Burrows, Grace Knight and Rick Price to commemorate the upcoming 50th anniversary of VP Day.

13 August 2002: Alison Whyte (Frontline) and Lisa McCune (Blue Heelers) star as sisters and lawyers in the new Seven Network series Marshall Law.

YouTube: For The Love Of Broadcast

13 August 2006: The premiere of the celebrity pop culture game show You May Be Right, hosted by Dancing With The Stars judge Todd McKenney. The show was seen as a thinly-veiled take-off of ABC‘s Spicks And Specks, and was only to have a short life. Network Ten premieres reality series Girlband. Hosted by Natalie Bassingthwaighte with band members Patrice Tipoki, Jess Smith, Renee Armstrong and Renae Bargh.

2 Likes

14 August 1978: The 0-10 Network premieres Thank God It’s Friday At The Zoo, a disco-themed music show hosted by Sydney radio announcer Ian MacRae.

14 August 1997: Network Ten premieres drama series State Coroner. Starring Wendy Hughes with Paul Cronin (The Sullivans), Elaine Smith (Neighbours), Nick Carrafa (Neighbours), Robert Grubb (The Flying Doctors) and Alan Dale (Neighbours).

14 August 2006: The Nine Network premieres Two Twisted, Bryan Brown‘s anthology series of mysteries. The first episode, There’s Something About Kyanna, stars Melissa George and Sandy Winton.

3 Likes

This was a stinker

1 Like